Editor's note: Ken Stevens is multimedia specialist for MLive and
The Muskegon Chronicle. He has worked for the local news organization
for 26 years.

MUSKEGON, MI – Sometimes, positioning really makes a photo special.

MLive multimedia intern Theophil Syslo provide that this week when he captured a patriotic and terrific photograph of the Muskegon fireworks show framed with an American flag.

That photo and several
others are part of this edition of the MLive and the Muskegon
Chronicle's weekly feature called Ken Stevens Picks Pics, highlighting
some of the top photographs shot recently by our staff. The feature also
provides some photography tips.

Syslo's unique photo of Thursday night's fireworks pictured in the background with a flag in the foreground at Heritage Landing was top notch. He shot it with his Canon EOS 7D camera using a 16-35 mm f/2.8 lens shot at 1/50 of a second at f/2.8 at ISO 800.

Syslo also captured a great moment at a late night concert at Electric Forest with the band Passion Pit.

"I haven't shot too many concerts but every time I get the chance I try to do something fun with it. I only brought a 14mm wide angle lens and a 300mm lens to this concert and I had a wonderful time shooting both," Syslo said. "However, a lot of people thought I was trying to shoot Mars or the moon with the 300mm lens. It's a big lens."

He shot this with a Nikon D3 using the 14mm f/2.8 lens at 1/125 of a second at f/5.6 at ISO 800.

Kolb was well prepared to photograph the fireworks at Heritage Landing even before the official show began.

"People were launching fireworks before the official fireworks show, before it got so dark that the sky seemed black. The reflection of all the colors in the water and the lights from the boats make this one of my favorite photographs," Kolb said. She used a tripod and her Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with a 10 second exposure at f/8 and an ISO of 100.

Her photo of Josh Turner with the dramatic yellow lighting captured the moment during his Fourth of July concert at the Coast West Music Festival.

"Josh Turner was such a character and a flirt. All the ladies in the crowd loved him and this photograph really captures his stage presence," Kolb said. She used her Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with a 1.4X teleconverter at a 1/320 of a second exposure at f/4 with an ISO of 1250.

My week began going to the post Electric Forest exodus Monday morning with the 30,000 concert-goers leaving. I liked the photo of Michelle Burch, 24, of Whitehall, patiently waiting in her car in the slow-moving line with her foot up against the rear view mirror. The peace sign on the top of her foot captured the moment.

I also liked the photo of the young man calling himself "Billy Classics," 21, of Boston, reacting to a festival worker returning his lost car keys while he was waiting in the lost-and-found line.

The highlight of my Coast West coverage was the Here Come The Mummies show on the MLive/Muskegon Chronicle stage Wednesday night. Their energy and stage show was great to photograph.

I used the 300mm lens for these three photos to get tight and show their wonderful facial expressions. The group's performance also made for a fun video.